Qin Li finally accepted the money and bowed solemnly to Li Sanjiang.
Li Zhiyuan silently bowed his head and ate his meal. He didn’t believe for a second the excuse about Uncle Qin going back home to attend to his elder brother. He had been to the eastern room and paid respects to the ancestral tablet; the situation was clearly that the entire family, no, the entire clan was gone.
Uncle Qin’s departure could only be due to last night’s incident.
Li Zhiyuan could sense that, staying with the Grandmaster, they had been trying hard to avoid certain taboos. Uncle Qin’s departure was probably for caution’s sake.
Sigh, the cost of this one time of tipping over a soy sauce bottle was really high.
He sneakily glanced at Liu Yumei and noticed that she was also looking at him, their gazes briefly meeting.
Liu Yumei’s eyes were meaningful, her lips curved in a smile.
Li Zhiyuan knew this was a silent warning.
He could no longer go back to the Qin family for help with tough situations like in the past. Asking for help once meant one person would be driven away; the brush wasn’t thick with bristles left for him to pluck.
After dinner, Run Sheng couldn’t wait to turn on the TV and tuned to a channel.
Li Sanjiang didn’t go upstairs to lie down and listen to storytelling but sat here as well, smoking a cigarette.
Soon, the TV emitted an exciting melody, it was the county channel, broadcasting "Mighty King Leo."
Run Sheng sat back down, grabbed a few sticks of incense, lit them with a match, and intently watched while nibbling on them as if they were spicy strips.
Li Zhiyuan didn’t rush back to his room to read Wei Zhengdao’s new book but brought a small stool over and sat down with Alii to watch TV.
Li Sanjiang asked Run Sheng curiously, "What’s with the guy in the red leather outfit?"
"Grandpa, it’s Mighty King."
"And the round thing that flies?"
"That’s a disc-shaped lifeform, a monster, the evil kind."
Run Sheng had watched a lot of TVs in the past, sometimes in the village, sometimes at his employers’, or even in stores, but it was always in fits and starts.
But in this era, most kids who had the means to watch TV would find it hard to watch such series systematically, missing parts due to interruptions or the TV station changing programs before the series ended.
Although there were now VCRs in homes, the machines were expensive, and videocassette distribution was inconvenient. This led to the rise of video halls everywhere, where people paid for admission to watch together in a room, with the owner showing adult content at a fixed time in the evening.
After one episode finished, a commercial for an eczema ointment began playing.
Run Sheng continued to watch the advertisement intently, hoping that the next episode would continue after it ended, although the chances were slim. As he continued to use the TV for a while, he could clearly remember what programs were scheduled for each time slot on those few channels, even without a program guide in hand.
And, incidentally, he could recite all those advertisement scripts by heart.
After a long wait, Run Sheng turned to look at Li Zhiyuan and asked, "Xiao Yuan, have you seen this before?"
"How many episodes are there?"
"Forty or fifty episodes, I guess."
Back when he lived in the staff quarters, Li Zhiyuan was dragged by a few older boys to watch VHS tapes at home. They had collected many full series, although the version they had called this "Superman Neo."
At this time, most of the Chinese translations were dominated by Xiangjiang and Treasure Island versions, leading to differences in translation habits.
Liu Yumei came over at this moment and said, "Alii, it’s time to rest."
Her words were directed at Li Zhiyuan.
"Alii, go back to the room with your grandma to rest. See you tomorrow morning."
Alii obediently got up and went back to the room with Liu Yumei.
Li Zhiyuan left his stool and looked back as he ascended the stairs. Through the paper crafts in the downstairs room, he saw Brother Run Sheng and Grandmaster engrossed in the advertisements on TV.
This brought to mind Uncle Qin, who had sped away on his motorcycle last night.
The violent clash between tradition and trendiness, the friction and tearing between backwardness and advancement, it was hard to imagine how so many things could be mistakenly piled up in the same era.
Yet, the people living in this era, including himself, were often oblivious, even if the stormy waves were right beside them.
Perhaps only years later, when everything had settled, and looking back, one would be astonished to realize what a bizarre and splendid era they had been part of.
"Xiao Yuan." It was Uncle Qin who broke Li Zhiyuan’s train of thought; he was standing at the top of the stairs as if he had been waiting for him.
Li Zhiyuan knew this would probably be the last lesson.
Following Uncle Qin’s past instruction, Li Zhiyuan took the horse stance and began to regulate his breathing, quickly entering the state.
Uncle Qin’s hands meticulously adjusted every muscle and joint in Li Zhiyuan’s body to ensure correct force application.
After a while, Uncle Qin said, "That’s enough."
Li Zhiyuan stood up, not feeling tired but, on the contrary, relaxed. By now, after reading for extended periods, he had begun to replace radio calisthenics with horse stances.
"Keep practicing, don’t slack off."
"I will remember, Uncle Qin."
"Mm." Uncle Qin walked downstairs.
Li Zhiyuan felt a tinge of melancholy; Uncle Qin had so many skills, but it seemed he had only learned the horse stance.
It was a good thing though, as Wei Zhengdao’s "Righteous Demon Extermination Records" talked about the methods of combat with corpses, which he could practice.
Returning to his bedroom, he turned on the desk lamp. Li Zhiyuan was in no rush to read the next volume. After all, he was still a child. Before practicing close combat, it’s better to start with learning to use equipment.
He flipped open the first volume of the previous book and began reading from the first Chapter.